Radar: satellites and telcos
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Radar: satellites and telcos
Coming to a place above you
The headline-grabbing inclusion of satellite connectivity in Apple’s iPhone 14 in 2022 made one thing clear: momentum in telco-satellite convergence is seeing a shift from pilots to commercial progress. This has continued in 2023, reflecting growing ecosystem maturity, and pragmatism among operators of the value of satellite in bridging coverage gaps while targeting new revenue streams from consumer and IoT use cases.
This research explores the competitive landscape, potential revenue uplift available to telcos and satellite operators, the resurgence of direct to device (D2D), and potential standards pathways (and risks) for non-terrestrial networks as part of 3GPP.
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Radar: satellites and telcos
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The Limits of D2D
Direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity has emerged as a notable development in the mobile ecosystem, promising to extend basic mobile services beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. It has the potential to enhance coverage in remote and underserved areas and to provide an additional layer of resilience for emergency communications. While the technology has clear benefits, is advancing rapidly and is attracting significant attention, its practical role remains constrained by fundamental limitations in capacity and spectral efficiency. This report examines the impact of different constellation and spectrum scenarios on D2D’s capabilities.
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